Seize The Moment Series

Seize the Moment

YOLO Part 3

Luke 9:59-62

We are currently going through the message series: YOLO.

“You only live once.”

It is true that we only live once.

However, what does this imply?

The Bible is very clear on this.

We only live once, therefore, we must live our one and only life meaningfully.

In order to do that, two weeks ago, we thought about having a clear mission in life.

Last week, we thought about using our time wisely.

And today, we will think about seizing the moment.

A scholar once surveyed the Bible to discover the most significant words in the Bible.

He wanted to find the saddest word, the happiest word, the most emotional word, and so on.

When he came around to the Bible’s most dangerous word, he identified it as “later.”

This word keeps us from coming to Jesus and discovering the abundant life that God wants us to have.

It is a thief that robs us of opportunity and chance to make eternal differences.

Can you imagine what your life could have been if you did not delay when the opportunity was given?

What if you studied before the exam?

What if you bought that stock before it went up?

What if you received Jesus as your Savior when you were younger?

We all have the tendency to postpone.

Students do their homework at the last minute.

Workers stay up all night to finish the project at the last moment.

Pastors write Sunday sermons on Saturday nights.

We have a theological term for that: Saturday Night Express.

Therefore, what does the Bible say about our tendency to postpone?

What are some dangers of not seizing the moment when the opportunity is given?

In the passage that we read today, Jesus taught us these dangers of not seizing the moment when the opportunities are given.

I. We must not lose opportunities to be successful (vv. 59-62).

Verses 59-60 say this.

59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Jesus met a man and He told this person to follow Him.

However, the man wanted to go and bury his father and then follow Jesus.

He did not seize the moment when the opportunity was given.

Verses 61-62 say this.

61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Jesus met another person.

This time the person volunteered to follow Jesus.

However, he wanted to say ‘goodbye’ to his family first and then follow Jesus.

Both of these people failed to seize the moment when the opportunities were given to follow Jesus.

By doing that, they missed the chance to become Jesus’ disciples.

We must realize this.

There is no successful person, who does not seize the moment when the opportunity is given.

Of course, I am not just talking about being successful in the monetary sense.

Rather I am ultimately talking about success in terms of God’s perspective.

In order to be successful from God’s perspective, we must seize the moment when the opportunity is given to us by God.

There was a management consultant some years ago, named Ivy Lee.

Charles Schwab, chairman of Bethlehem Steel, hired him to come in and help him become more productive.

Lee smiled and gave him a plan of underwhelming simplicity.

He said this.

“Each evening, write down the six most important things you should do on the following day. List them in order of importance. The following morning, come into work and do whatever is at the top of the list. When you’ve finished with that one, move to the next one down.”

Schwab asked Lee how much he was going to charge for such advice.

Lee replied, “Use the plan strictly for several months. Then you decide on the value of my plan and send me a check.”

Eventually Lee received a check for $25,000 from Schwab for that simple piece of advice—a good bit of money at the beginning of the twentieth century.

When God gives us the opportunity to do big things in our lives, we must seize the moment.

We must not try to do unimportant things in our lives and miss the chance to do eternal significant things in our lives.

Let’s say that you made a “to-do” list and someone followed you all day and recorded the actual use of your time.

When presented with the list, would you be pleased with it?